By Shonda Easterling
Intern, ARC Athletics Social Media Department

American River College Athletics Department hosted its Spring 2018 Season Preview on January 19, 2018.

During the event, The Athletics Department honored their scholar Athletes for maintaining a 3.0 GPA or Higher during their Fall 2017 season. The top 3 teams that had a totally amazing GPA were Women's Cross Country with a 3.4 GPA, Women's Water Polo and Volleyball with a 3.2 GPA, and Men's Cross Country with a 3.2 GPA. Congrats to all the student athletes who maintained an outstanding GPA (200 student athletes) and especially the student athletes who earned a 4.0 GPA:

Ray Henry, Nick Perry, Pim Lewis, Leonard Nelson, Jacob Sipes, Jonathan Tanihana, Rayann Martinez, Elena Avila, Nicholas Abcarius, Anthony Mattle, Kami Eastman, Mary Gorodetskiy, Kiara Green, Lydia Kohler, Mia Leitsen, Riley Showler, Natasha Skidmore, Tam Duong, Kirsten Chrisco, Amdrei Matei, David Gonzalez, Kevin Gonzalez, Amy Heckeroth, Haven Lambrite, & Madeline Adams.

Olga Prizhbilov had the teams perform a challenging exercise game on how they can perform as a TEAM as the coaches and the athletes. It was an amazing to see the level of dedication and strength of character that the student athletes exhibited through their performance in their academics.

Former ARC student athlete Heather Moody was the guest speaker, who's a two-time Olympic medalist player. She stated, "To be successful you have to have Character and Dedication to achieving your goals." She further encouraged the student athletes by saying that, "When your role changes, accept it and be ready to adapt to the change." Heather Moody spoke from the heart telling the student athletes that their life is a journey and that everything they do here at ARC counts toward their end goals.

To be an outstanding student athlete, you have to apply yourself to work hard and challenge your athletic ability to the next level to be successful.

"Sometimes opportunities float right past your nose. Work hard, apply yourself, and be ready. When an opportunity comes, you can grab it." (By Julie Andres)